Bioshock 2 (Sea of Dreams (Hopefully))

So now that new details are emerging on the subject of Bioshock 2 I am feeling inclined to say something on the topic.

The first thing is that like most people who played the original, I do not feel like the Bioshock name needed a sequel. It is fair that it is receiving one seeing as the original made a few dollars and any business person's standpoint would say that the sequel would bring in a few dollars itself.

Accepting the fact that there is a new Bioshock game coming out the question is do I think it will be good? A better question still is do I think that it could be good? I think that it could be great. I think that it could stand to be amazing though I still think it would be hard to get a plot twist as good as, "Would you kindly," in there. Bioshock was not as so much about the place as it was about the characters that defined that place. Your character was quite literally a puppet in this world and I know that the sequel needs that character definition. So do I think that 2K Marin is going to be able to continue this enriched experience? I do not. I do not think this because it is a different studio, though it is still a contributing factor, I think this because that character direction was a unified experience that was wholly encompassed in this one story arc. Ultimately I think that it will be difficult for 2K Marin to break themselves off a piece of this and be able to keep up the rich character development without it feeling a little washed out at the end.

As far as I have been made aware this game is supposed to be a prequel and I have a hard time seeing, as far as plot holes go, how a Big Sister evolved into a Big Daddy or vice versa, if in fact it ends up being a sequel not a prequel. The only way something like that would make any bit of sense to me is if part of Rapture broke off and became its own separate entity which we all know is not going to have happened.

The last thing is that the first games story was based around the world and the gameplay and this one is going to be other way around. Realistically that should make the game easier to make. Raptures assets are already created, ready and waiting, so Marin should have plenty of resources to make the story great. One can only hope.

In the end Bioshock 2 is not going to be Bioshock, it will be a game that has the Bioshock name on it though one will have to try and enjoy it on its own merits.

[Via Joystiq, Jarvis Slacks, Game Informer]

Halo Wars: The Story So Far

My experience with Halo Wars so far is a good one. It feels like it is part of the Halo Universe which to me is the best part about it. The fact that it is an RTS where one can amass a huge Halo style army is just a plus.

I have been splitting my online matches between the win and loss columns. The only problem I have with this is that I do not know what I am learning from the losses. In the matches that I do lose I attempt to adapt my strategy based on the losing parameters only to find that those are not helping either.

But when I win it is completely the opposite; it is always a blow-out. I need to figure out what is happening here.

Just now I have come to the revelation that I need to stop attacking as much as I do but that is not the only thing because sometimes I am attacked when I least expect it (and other times still I am only caught a little off guard).

NEW STRATEGY: Build units fast, chill at base, be ready at all times. Good... Good.

As an aside, Halo Wars has me playing more Halo 3. The Mythic Maps that came with the limited edition are fun and I boosted for achievements for the first time with a few people the other day. I think that I feel bad about it.

Back to Halo Wars - I have come to like the extraneous things about Halo Wars the most. For example the Halo Universe timeline welcome along with the service records Ala H3.

That is it for this stream of consciousness; this is all that has been on my mind for the past few days.

My Halo Wars Tournament Experience

I walked into GameStop on Saturday, having just being released from the clutches of work at nine to two. The tournament started at two so I was naturally feeling a little itchy. When I got to the store, having it two blocks from my job helps a lot, I began counting how many people were in the store. There were a lot but there was not 32 (the tournament cap).

I ambled about the store trying to figure out where they were going to have all of it set up (I had no idea how makeshift this whole thing was). I was feeling like there should have been more than one kiosk for an entire tournament but I would find out in no time at all how wrong I was.

I finally found the sign up sheet and when I tell you that I was the fourth person to sign it, what I am saying is that there were only four people there for the tournament.

Fast forward a few minutes - While I was meeting my opponents I was paying more attention to the GameStop employee turning their demo stations into a Halo Wars battlestation. I chuckled to myself.

I also chuckled when, what turned out to be my first opponent, said, "I think I should be a little nervous about going up against someone wearing a Penny Arcade shirt."

And so when it got right down to it I selected Commander Forge and my opponent selected Commander Cutter and then my first and last Deathmatch of that day was on. I started building quickly and efficiently but before I knew it I found myself overwhelmed by uber units that i had never seen before. It was over, despite my futile attempts, and I shook his hand.

I then watched him beat the person that I, myself, wanted to beat. It was not that he was fast as much as he was efficient and smart about everything he was doing. He saw a clearer line to the finish that I can only hope to develop. Naturally I wanted to learn a thing or two from him, so I got his GamerTag.

All in all it was a great experience and an even better learning experience. I could not have asked for a better opponent and I was not even nervous when I played... which is an accomplishment for me. He was an RTS player from the bottom of his heart. I did not think big enough, instead I only thought about people who would have played the demo instead of a lot of other RTS's.

I would like to have this experience again soon someday only next time I'll know the maps better and I'll be a more efficient opponent.

i was confident going into the tournament

Big Day Off, Big Plans (Random Diary)

Every day off I have I make these grandiose plans of what I will attempt to accomplish that day. Today is no different.

[Ed note: The caveat here is that all of these plans are usually superseded by real (meaning work around the house or going out to the store) errands.]

Usually I'll start off the day by reading hundreds of feeds that have piled up since my last day off and then hopefully with that information under my belt I'll construct one of my famous blog entries. Today I am trying something different in that I am going with the entry first and news later.

Then a bit later on in my day I plan to tackle some "big gaming situations" and by those I mean, something other than playing Gears of War 2 for hours at a time. Today for example, I am going to play the Halo Wars demo until my hands bleed so that I might prepare myself for the Gamestop Halo Wars Tournament. I have convinced myself of the notion that if I get to compete at all, I will win. Then after playing the Halo Wars demo, depending on the amount of time I have left myself, I will probably try and hop back into The Wasteland (Fallout 3) again today.

In reality I usually only complete about half of my plans and then I resort to playing Gears of War or something like it anyway.

I hope you have all enjoyed this little introspective look into my life; let me know in the comments if you care to read more like this.

Mass Effect 2 Teaser

I apologize for the YouTube quality of the video but you can go here or here to watch it in higher quality.

Okay so you've watched it.

"How do you feel?"

Great, I know. I think know I squealed a little when I saw this. I am not ashamed to admit it. I think I need to play Mass Effect again. Oh lordy, I need to catch my breath.

Naturally I think more about a post before I well, post it but this merits something different altogether. I knew it was coming but now I am stoked. Well hopefully the whole multiplatform thing does not mean that this is coming out later rather than sooner.

Maybe that DLC that I wanted is also coming sooner rather than later.

Okay I just remembered I need to breathe... and sleep. Goodnight all.

My 1st Podcast

Do not be mislead... I did not take the initiative and record this myself. I recorded with my blogging friend Jarvis Slacks. I honestly cannot be the judge of how it sounds because I think I sound like an entire toolbox all of the time. So yes please let you know what you think either through Twitter or through the comments.

How The Recession Plays Into Gaming Habits

Is the recession damaging your ability to play new games?

A lot of folks are losing their jobs these days due to layoffs and the like. Companies are hemorrhaging money and while I do not know any of these people personally, someone does.

These recent times have me thinking about how they affect how people are playing games (it might have me thinking about other topics of course but you are reading a game journalism blog who-sa-whats-it).

These are the few questions that I have been asking myself lately:
1. Is there more time for games because the unemployed are spending more time at home?
2. Are people playing less new titles because they can't afford them?
3. Are people trying to get more out of the games that they currently own because they can afford only so many?

These are all viable questions and they are probably all true, depending on the person and their situation.

I think that the unemployed folks that play are playing more because whatever time that they are not spending to look for a job they are spending in their games. It is quite a natural thing to look for a distraction from the hardships of being unemployed.

The second hypothesis I had was if one could no longer afford to buy new games. Instead we are buying more used games and trading in our games that we no longer have any use for. I think that this has always happened to an extent but I think that over the coming months it will become much more noticeable.

The last hypothesis related to playing games differently is how we are going to end up trying to get more out of our games. Will we try out and eek out every bit of GamerScore and game secrets?

I think this is how all of this is affecting me? It in not in any big way, instead I have other financial woes which may or may not have anything to do with the recession. I refuse to buy used titles and at this time I will not be able to afford to pick up Halo Wars or Resident Evil 5. I have considered selling off some of my property (not land or anything like that) in order to afford Halo Wars but then why wouldn't I do the same thing to pay off the rest of by debts. Instead I will be like option number 3, I will be attempting to master all of the games I own. I own enough.

In reality I think what is happening is that Gamestop is benefiting from this recession. I think that they are buying up more used titles and thus making a higher profit margin from the people are waiting to be able to play these games at a cheaper price. I guess another question would be is how long can GameStop can sustain this without people buying new games.

Here is a list of games I want to get back to:

Dead Rising
Obilivion
Orange Box
Fable 2

Recommend some things that I may have missed in the comments.

What about you? Is the recession affecting how you play your games and how many games you are playing? If so, drop a comment.

Of course the last option is that the recession has oneself playing no games. I'd like to meet that man.

Resident Evil 5 Demo Impressions

I figured that it was only fitting for a Resident Evil entry to be posted on Valentine's Day.

I have already told all of those who will listen that this is my first "real" (and I do say real because I once touched the first game some years ago for five minutes but it did not grab me) experience with any Resident Evil game.

I have enjoyed this experience. My reasons for getting into it are inconsequential but it goes something like, "This is the first Resident Evil game on the Xbox platform..."

After I had adjusted to the control system I was impressed with myself. I was opening my inventory, giving ammo, healing, reloading, running (but not gunning), and of course massacring the zombie-like foes. I was in love.

The game is beautiful to look at and fun to play (though I wonder if this was not my first, would I still feel the same?). This is a different gaming experience that 99.9% percent of games that I play. I now believe that the control system is THERE TO BUILD TENSION (though I wonder if I am being brainwashed).

In the past I would cite the broken control system as a reason for not playing the game, despite never touching it, and it is funny because if the controls were broken one would be lead to believe that CAPCOM would have been smart enough to fix them by now.

I normally do not think in terms of strategically reloading (I either do or I don't) but in RE you have to be strategic about it so as not to get chainsawed.

So go play it, stop reading, because it is a demo and it is free.

Mass Effect 2 Goes Multiplatform

Update: There is newer news that says that ME2 will come out on only PC and 360 to begin with. They are still not ruling out a PS3 version but there is also nothing to say that there will be. Check here for more deets.


Commander Shepard: FALL BACK! EVERYONE FALL BACK!

Liara: Shepard, there are too many Geth, what do we do?

Shepard: We call in reinforcements...

...and that is precisely what EA will have Bioware doing. All consoles will support Mass Effect 2 or vice versa. I suppose the Geth are really a bigger threat than we imagined... or maybe it is something else that treads into spoiler territory.


I have been thinking about this news item for almost a week now and I feel both excited, at the prospect of a new ME game, and shameful, for wanting it to remain on the 360 and PC alone.

I suppose a realistic hope would be improvements on all of the original's shortcomings. I hope they fix the texture pop in, the load times (specifically the elevators), and the handful of glitches that plagued the original. While nothing ruined the game for me (I played it through four times) it would be nice to have those shortcomings fixed.

Again I know that is ridiculous to get upset over platform exclusivity but I am and I know that I do not have a good reason for it. More people will get to experience the series but I do wonder if many PS3 owners will be picking this up or not. A better question still is how many who played the original on the 360 are going to go out and purchase this game for their PS3?

This brings me to the conclusion that the original might come to the PS3. I do not know how probable this is seeing as it was still a Microsoft Games Studio game. Microsoft may still have exclusive rights to the first one but for how long? Just keep this possibility in the back of your mind so as not to be surprised later.

In the meantime we can all fantasize about new "level design" (you know, instead of the same old rooms with different things in them) and adventures with Shepard and Company.

Now if only this Mass Effect 1 section on the Marketplace would update with some new DLC.

[Via Joystiq]

Halo Wars Demo Impressions

I was going to write this up when I woke up but having read Jarvis's own impressions of this demo I decided that I should get mine out there.

This will be the game that changes all of the preconceived notions of how an RTS is to be played on a console. This is what ENSEMBLE wants you to believe but the most important thing is - is it true?

I personally have had no interest in playing a console RTS before this but I can tell you that this feels right. One thing in particular that I noticed was that all item that are base related are all right there on the same pad. It just works.

Despite my lack of interest I also did not go into playing this demo with any skepticism. These are the creators of Age of Empires.

Like I said this game just feels right. Everything clicks and the controls are easy enough to use. The game/demo starts of with a stunning cut scene that just gets you pumped to play another Halo game. And then you are hovering twenty feet above one Warthog and you slowly begin to amass your army.

Be wary though because this is another one of those games that burns time.

Weekly Update, What Have I Been Playing, Random Complaining... Whatever

It has been a good week or so to be a gamer. I am not saying this to hurt the other week's feelings but I am sure it will be a good 10 days to be a gamer come March 3rd and 13th.

This is for the reason that the two games of which demos I have played will be launching: Halo Wars and Resident Evil 5.

Let us talk about the later first since in my last post I was unsure on whether I would be picking it up or not. I have decided, after playing through the demo again - both coop and not - that I will be picking it up. I could honestly care less about the story, which I know is strange for me, but I had a good experience playing it and I would be remiss if I did not want to continue that experience.

But before I say too much I have write ups for both of those demos for your viewing pleasure so now it is only a short amount before you may gaze upon those.

Now the real topic of this post:

You may accuse me of being a fanboy for the Xbox, or Xbot, whichever you prefer, but alas let me point out that I do want to purchase a PS3 but both the price and the game selection are not allowing for that. I have a wife and I have bills... I also am not made of money (despite many attempts by others to debunk this (I'd really rather not talk about it)).

There has been a lot of commotion surrounding Killzone 2. I am sure that it is the best shooter on PS3 to date but I am sure there are better shooters out there. I am just saying that I do not think that the MLG is going to abandon Halo 3 as their primary game in favor of Killzone 2. I believe that the graphics are the best any system has to offer and I am sure it could kill many a 360 but who really cares.

The only thing that people care about is their review score. I'll admit I have been upset by a less than 9.5 review score but not enough to well question the reviewers practices. In this review from CVG the reviewer lists the lack of co-op as a letdown or a negative mark against the game. Well as you might guess, folks have freaked out. I found this comment particularly astounding:

How can you give a game negative marks for not having co-op!!!!! You can only review that content that's there. It's like someone reviewing mario and then deducting points for it not having machine guns!!!

Me: "No it is not like that!?"

I'm sorry to say this but people have come to expect co-op from their shooters. Mario and machine guns have nothing to do with this pointless argument. This makes no sense to me at all. Somewhere in those comments someone said that COD4 did not have coop. Well woop dee doo, it still felt like an innovation from COD2 despite the fact that I didn't like COD4 to begin with. Aghhh I hate the sheer stupidity of some people.

We I have definitely worked myself up sufficiently, I think I am going to go calm down with a cup of coffee. Oh and just in case you PS3 fanboys did not get that... it was a joke.

A40 Audio System Unboxing

This is something that I have been waiting for, for a long time. It was painful to have to unbox it so slow in order to take pictures so I apologize if it is not comprehensive enough. Basically these things are awesome and after I have had enough use of them I will probably throw a review up. For now behold their glory:

Holy Crap

So here is another apology: "I'm sorry."

I have not been on my computer at all as Google Reader can attest to (800+ unread items and counting). I am currently in Massachusetts on a mini-vacation and so I am currently on Matt's computer (my crappy laptop battery makes it not worth bringing my own computer places). I have been at work every day and in my free time I have been playing Fallout 3 like a madman. I finally finished the main story but I will be returning to the game in order to tie up any loose ends that I left (Operation: Anchorage DLC, bobbleheads, etc. I have not been doing anything else of any merit so I guess that is all this post will center around.

Now: more about Fallout.

I'll have to start a new game in order to attempt what I want to do - get all 1000 gamerscore - but for right now I am satisfied with myself [Ed note: I know that there is more gamerscore now with the DLC but let us not argue semantics.]. Like I said, I do have to tie up the loose ends, so that I can feel like I actually had a full play through of the game. I am a completionist and if I were enough of one I would have 100 percent gamerscore in most or all of my games. Lucky for me, I am not that much of a loon. The last thing I have to say about this game is that it had the best story of any game I played last year.

But now seeing as I have completed it, I can allow myself to play other things. I know that I will be returning to Left 4 Dead, Gears of War 2 and probably Fable 2 with a vengeance. For Left 4 Dead I'll be playing whenever I get the chance and for Gears of War (since patches are finally coming out) maybe I can finally have some fun playing this game online. I know I will be awful at first but it will be well worth the pain. But Fable 2 got the short end of the stick when it came to play time last year.

I played the first half of the game at my own pace but the second half was rushed because I was completing it so that I could play Fallout (and we all know how long that took me). I need to go back and finish what I didn't get to and perhaps after that I will start a whole new character. Fable 2 is great and I want to get everything that I can out of it.

Last on the docket is the fact that I played the Resident Evil 5 Demo last night. It was a good time mainly because it felt foreign to me. I have never played a RE game before - Sacrilege! - because they have never interested me before. Now the only reason that it interests me is because I have an interest in getting all Zombie related achievements. While I know that this seems to be a lofty goal it is idea that I am entertaining.

But I did play the demo with Matt yesterday and I enjoyed myself. Perhaps I will play the retail copy when it comes out.

Grand Theft Auto Previewsplosion (DS and 360)

On January 21st MTV Multiplayer's Stephen Totilo was invited down to Rockstar New York to check out Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars and Grand Theft Auto: The Lost and Damned. The former has interested me the most seeing as it is "something new" that takes advantage of many, if not all, of the DS' strong suits. The latter is the long anticipated (I guess it could be argued by some) Xbox 360 DLC for Grand Theft Auto IV.

Let me start of by saying that Chinatown Wars looks to be fantastic. From what I have seen of screenshots the graphics look amazing for a DS game and from what I have read the touch screen moments of the game are something that I am greatly anticipating. Let me make a small prediction here: This could very well be the best selling GTA of this generation (I mean seriously, think about how many DS units there are out there).

Here are some key points that I pulled from Totilo's preview (I'll quote the ones I found most interesting and naturally you can just click away on that link to see anything else that might tickle the cockles of your heart).

-900,000 lines of code were optimized for the touch interface alone.

-The missions are scored with medals (Gold, Silver, Bronze) and from your garage you can later go and replay them to get a higher rank.

-It is played from the top down (ala GTA 1&2) but has a full 24 hour cycle and licensed music (with no words)

-You will be playing stylus in hand because there are that many touch based moments.

These few bullet points are just the bare bones of it but again these are elements that I think matter most. I will say though that I am a bit skeptical about the medal system because if is anything like what Sonic games turned into (making it nigh impossible to get a gold medal) then I am going to be pushing holes through my screen with my stylus. Also I do not mind at all that this game is top down instead of third person POV though I am a little sad that we will have licensed MIDI's instead of full tracks (obviously I understand the limitations here and I am sure when I play it I will not mind at all). Lastly I am happy that it looks like I will be equally using the buttons and the stylus.

The last thing that I have to say about this game is that it looks like I will have to hurry and beat The World Ends With You so that I do not feel bad about picking this game up when it comes out.


Next up on the docket is The Lost and Damned which also looks promising. This is the 20 dollar piece of DLC - dropping February 17 - that if it didn't require the GTA IV disc might as well be a whole new game.

I say this because all of the previews that I have read all lead me to believe that this piece of DLC will be in the 10-20 hour range. I paid twenty for Penny Arcade Adventures Episode 1 so I will more than likely be paying twenty for this.

Now for the bullet points that I again took from Totilo's preview (that guy is so on top of his stuff huh?):

-Rockstar is calling this a full game that only uses the GTA IV disc to render the city.

-The downloadable episode adds some extra "grit" and "lighting". It all "adds more fidelity to character models".

-There will be new weapons and rewards for riding in formation with your gang.

-The handling of the bikes will be different for the DLC.

-Rockstar says that they are not "milking it".

I am honestly excited about all of these things. I think that this "full game" is just easier for them to make seeing as it renders the city from the disc. To me this looks like a Vice City or a San Andreas to me and though I know it is not as long it does feel like something new. I like that they are improving on an already well done city by adding extra layers of "grit" and "lighting". Perhaps the thing that I am most excited for is the improved handling of the bikes because this was the only thing that I was worried about when this episode was originally announced. And lastly Rockstar says that they are not milking this and I truly believe it. This is what they are good at. One could argue that the whole franchise is milked but they have the quality to go with the quantity.

They will also have my 20 bucks come February 17.

You have heard it before but DLC is truly the way of the future.

An Update From the Train

This will probably be my first and las update from my phone. I just wanted to give it a shot so I apologize in advance for any erroranious mistakes or lack of linkage. Let me know how this went in the comments.

Today was a great day in the Wasteland. I scoured the ends of the DC Wasteland for bottles of Nuka Cola Quantum and explored the wastes of Vault-Tec HQ. I can't tell you how excited I get when I come upon a bottle of Quantum but I can assure you the reaction is one of giddy delight.

I expected more from the Vault-Tec offices but there was still some fun stuff in there (I found a lot of lunchboxes). I have been working on filling my Nuka Cola vending machine and I finally found Dogmeat. The former is just for fun because I have become a Nuka Cola fanboy and the latter usually just points me in the direction of some enemies.

I have since sent him back to Vault 101 for fear of him dying and I only have 7 bottles of Quantum left to collect in the Nuka Cola Challenge. Every bottle after that shall be a Nuka grenade and I shall let one bottle sit on a shelf next to my bobblehead stand. I am all about the trophies from my various quests.

As you can see I love being part of this world. I know that I will be sad to leave when I beat it but alas everyone's day must come, even Fallout's Wasteland.

I know this entry was incredibly short but typing something of any length becomes quite the chore on the iPhone. I'll speak to you quite soon about other escapades in the Wasteland or in real life.

I Feel Like I Have Been Away From the Blog for a Week

For those of you who follow my Twitter (right bar) you know that I said that I would be updating my blog about the NPD numbers a few days ago. Sadly that did not come to fruition. It has also not been as long as I thought it was between updates but still it was too long. I can safely say that work has been getting in the way of my posts and gaming lately and yesterday I just needed to play some Left 4 Dead to unwind.

My job is evil, soul-less, and soul-sucking (if you can imagine such a thing) and I have felt so drained (today is no exception). I know that is no excuse really for not updating the one thing that I am happy to do other than play games, this blog. So this here is my formal apology for sucking: "I'm sorry."

I'll say something about the NPD numbers because I did originally, in some form, promise that post.

It is good to see the XBOX doing as well as it has been since the price drop in September. I think the combination of that, the NXE, and the family oriented games have made it a more viable option to the Wii market. Granted these options to not appeal to you and me, the core gamer, but the health of this market can only mean more of the XBOX brand in years to come. That is enough to make me happy and I am sure it puts a smile on your face also.

[Via Joystiq]

Blogging 4 Dead

I would post more, but honestly, I have no time. But here's the thing about that: I do theoretically have time. I just fill it up. I'm either catching up on TV shows (like Doctor Who and Battlestar Galactica) or playing Left 4 Dead all night. And I must say, every night, almost all night, me and a group of kids ply Left 4 Dead together. This sadly does not include Nate because Nate has an actual life and has been mostly playing Fallout 3 these days, but never the less, from hours as early as 8 PM to as late as 4 AM, you'll find me gaming in Left 4 Dead. Of course, this means I sleep until about noon every day and then I'm grouchy for a little while upon waking up, but still... totally worth it (and I don't care how much I have to "grow up" right now with a job and responsibilities, nothing will ever make me give up my late night gaming sessions).

Now, while I will never ever stray from the thought that Fallout 3 was the best game of last year (much to Nathan's own chagrin), I will say that the predictions I made when I put it in my number 2 spot are entirely accurate. I play this game so much that it has since become to first and only game to be installed on my hard drive. I never saw the point of installing a game until now, but now I fully understand the validation. You have no idea how annoying it is to be playing this game for several hours, have a glorious dominating victory in a game, and then your game freezes when going back to the menu. I can sometimes hear the disc spinning in the XBOX, and it was at that point that I realized maybe I'm playing it enough to justify an install.

This game provides such a unique experience. I must say, after playing with the same group of guys last night, I really have no interest in playing with all random people now. It's so much better only playing with the same guys. We are by no means a "clan" (although, in one absolutely hilarious night, we did face a clan member of xUWNx, which I will talk more about later), but rather a group of guys who all know each other and like to play with and against each other. It provides much more amusement having over 7 friends who are all available for gaming. Never have I ever felt such a sense of camaraderie in any game. Now, I will admit, there is a point in every game where I do make a gun for the safe house and leave my team mates to die if necessary, but that's a last second/split second judgment call. One of the guys I play with usually always goes back to save people, and I've seen him get annihilated before due to this. It's the zombie apocalypse, man - I want to survive. That, and at least I get us a good amount of points every round (someone described my gaming as "clutch." I'd say that this is rather accurate). However, as long as we are traveling, I will turn around and do my best to save everyone I can. This is really only because I'm playing with my friends to begin with. If I was playing with random people, I can assure you that I would not care and would only save them if it was convenient for me. I might just say something like, "Learn to play the game!" and run off. But not to my gaming friends! Oh no. I will run the distance, shotguns a-blazing, just to separate them from a nasty smoker or hunter. It's also made me a constant reviewer of XBOX gamers. There are certain things you can do in the game as the infected that are based around glitches and make the gameplay very cheap and unfair. Every time a team does this against my team (unless we know the people), I go and give every player negative reviews and make them avoided players). So good job, Valve. You've made me into a team player (somewhat). Now give us new levels to play Versus on, and I'll be happy.

The final thing I'd like to say about Left 4 Dead is that it brings a great amount of sheer hilarity. I'll offer up two examples. The first is that one night, me and 3 of my friends were in a lobby. This kid joins named xUWNx FOUL, and we all instinctively laugh at him. He, of course, attacks me, and begins spouting of anti-Semitic slurs (if you don't know already, my gamertag is Jewnado, as in a tornado of Jewish hatred). He begins to rant and rave about how much better he is at the game than me and us, so I begin the game. Needless to say, we absolutely dominate, to the point where, in the finale, the other team just gives up and kills each other. Back in the lobby, Mr. FOUL gets a barrage of insults, such as, "Why don't you take your game back to GameStop and trade it in for a Wii and Party Babyz?" Of course he gets apologetic and begins saying, "Well, maybe if I had a better team..." No. You're just a horrible horrible player, and now you're on ignore. The second example is similar. My friends and I played against a team that ultimately gave up in the end, and killed each other. Everyone left but one player and his guest, and we laughed at him similarly in the lobby after the game. The thing was he didn't have a microphone at first, so after a few minutes of insults, he finally put one in and revealed himself to be a 13/14 year old boy. It was about 4:00 AM at this point, so we began saying things like, "Hey, did you remember to do your reading for English class? The Great Gatsby isn't going to read itself!" He finally said, and I quote, "Listen, gay guys, why don't you stop sucking each others dicks and start the game?" This is hilarious on two levels. The first level is "gay guys" - he didn't use any of the millions of slurs, he said gay and guys together in his sentence, and I just lost it. The second level is that he was such a bad player his team mates shot him and quit the game, and he wanted to play us again ... with no new team mates. No one had joined the lobby. It was 4:00 AM! So, instead of playing the game, I leaned over to my bookshelf, grabbed my copy of F. Scott Fitzgerald's great American classic, and said, "Ok, are you ready?" When he replied, "Yes," I then began to read The Great Gatsby outloud to him and all my friends in the room. I made it through six pages of the novel before he quit. SIX PAGES. After he quit, we invited him back in the room, at which point I read another whole page before he just turned off the XBOX and the rest of us, laughing, went to bed. There is much debate as to why the kid stayed in the room as long as he did. Some speculate that he really did need to read the book for class, but I like to think that I just have a great speaking voice (which I do). And as much as I love Fallout 3, the one thing it will never have is an opportunity for me to read The Great Gatsby to an angry child.

So good job, Valve. I fully commend you on another job well done. You consistently make online games with endless replayability, and at that you absolutely stand out among the other game publishers. Here's to awaiting the patch that finally gives us new levels to play. Now, it's about noon, meaning it's still day, meaning I have to get out and do all those things that I do in the day time that allow me to be up all night killing the infected, so I bid you a fond adieu until my next entry.

Fallout 3

Today I will make my triumphant return to the wasteland and while that is good news it does leave me with something sad to say: "I will not be making a post proper today." This is all I can offer you. I'll see you on the other side.

Gaming from the Cloud

This is a two-fold entry of sorts seeing as it will be about two different topics. Why you ask? My answer to you is that these topics of conversation these days do no merit posts of their own.

The first topic of the day is the comments recently made by Aaron Greenburg on the size increase of your Xbox LIVE Friends list. He said, “It’s definitely something we’re looking at expanding and, as this social network grows, we’ve absolutely heard the pleas for that. It’s on the list. (Via Platform Nation)” While I personally do not need this increase I have heard it talked about for the past two or so years. I know that it was a common request when the updates to the console were released biannually and I think that if they could finally figure out a way to do party chat then they could figure out a way to bump up that friends list cap (which currently stands at one-hundred).

Now I personally do not care about this feature upgrade because I am constantly weeding out people whom I’ve added but never have played with beyond that one initial time (the time that you liked playing with that person enough so you added them but now they are never on at the same time anymore). There are definitely mainstays on my friends list but until I blow up in the blogosphere I am betting that I will not care about the size of my friends list. How about you? Do you need the friends list increase?


The second and more interesting topic on hand is this. From the floor of CES there are talks about gaming from the cloud. Let me first explain what this could mean. This could mean that one could play a game with the highest of specs from say an iPhone or a crappy PC. I have not fully wrapped my head around this but I think that this is long off. Please click the link above for a better description.

This topic has me thinking (through a completely rationale thought process) about a “one console” future and it is a little unnerving. We need the “big three” to keep competing so that we can have all of these innovations (Avatars, Mii's, Home, etc). I like being a 360 Fanboy and Fanboyism will be threatened if there are no specs required to run a game. Every system will be able to run that game. It will be MADNESS! Okay enough of that, I have worked myself into a tizzy. I am just thinking worst case scenario and I would be willing to bet that the big three will be around for years to come. Thoughts?


Again that is all the rambling I have for you so return back soon for more of my clever and witty diatribe.

Game Diary: Futile Attempts to Play EVERYTHING

Seeing as there has not been a glut of news to talk about I will talk about the glut of games that I still have to finish at least once. This “list” of games that I still have to play does not even include the games that I have consistently been playing which are Left 4 Dead and Gears of War 2.

I haven’t touched Gears’ multiplayer mainly because I just cannot get into a game. Horde has been enough to keep me playing. Left 4 Dead is keeping me from playing Fallout 3. I’ll cite a specific instance: The other day I had at least four hours to devote to get back into the Wasteland but I ended up playing versus mode in L4D with friends. It was the most fun I have had with the game so far and I personally think that is saying something for me.

I feel like I have about 40 hours left to go in Fallout but that is just a rough estimation. This is the biggest game that I need to complete and after that I might be “on track” for the new games coming out in 2009. I want to be able to go back to Fable 2 when the DLC comes out but I do not think I’ll have beaten Fallout. I am also interested in playing “The Lost and Damned” DLC because I honestly think I’ll enjoy the return to Liberty City.

I am on a ticking timeline until Halo Wars comes out which will undoubtedly take up a lot of my time and will because one of my go to multiplayer games of choice. I have until March 3rd to feel as if I have played all of the holiday games sufficiently.

The annoying part of this is that I haven’t touched three games that I would like to play to completion: Mirror’s Edge, Dead Space, and Prince of Persia. I feel like at least one of these games is going to be forgotten for a while and I will bet that it will be Dead Space. Perhaps I could borrow that game from my little brother next time I visit my parent’s house. I am sure that would include trading one of my games for a temporary period of time, an idea I am not too keen on.

Honestly I am hoping for a slow gaming summer so that I can catch up because I just do not see how it is feasible otherwise.

It might sound like I am complaining about all of the games that I have to play but that is not the case. I just wish the publishers would space their games out so a person could actually give their game a shot.

As a last note I have not even touched my DS since I have been playing games again. I think portable gaming does go through spurts.

Next: Perhaps a blog entry that is somewhat news related.